Conventionally, a fishing reel, in which a spool is arranged between a pair of side frames and rotatably supported by a spool shaft, is basically so constructed that the spool is, as aforesaid, rotatably supported between a pair of side frames by a spool shaft, and within one of the side frames is housed a drive mechanism comprising a handle shaft and a drag mechanism supported peripherally thereof. A handle is mounted to the handle shaft, so that a rotary operation force of the handle is transmitted to the spool through the drag mechanism and the drive mechanism. The handle shaft of the conventional reel is arranged to be supported to a fixed shaft which is fixed to one of the side plates at the side frames and projects outwardly thereof, so that the handle is mounted to a single regular position at the reel body, i.e., one of the left-hand side and the right-hand side of the reel body. Thus, the setting position of the handle with respect to the reel body cannot be changed at the discretion of users.
Accordingly, the makers of fishing reels must provide separately both types of fishing reels for right-handle type and left-handle type, leading to a poor economy in production and storage of products, and larger manufacturing expenses. Such problems may be solved by that the handle can be changed in mounting position of the handle onto the reel in such manner that each side frame thereof is provided with respective drive mechanisms, and the handle and handle shaft are selectively mounted to one of the drive mechanisms. However, such feature is complex in construction, expensive to produce, and cause an increase in total weight of the device, so that the feature cannot basically solve the aforesaid problems.